Bio-Waste

Oh COVID19.. you’ve raised your ugly stink!  And guess what, you’ve affected, not just the respiratory system, but the brains of some of the walking dead!  I swear! 

The other day on my bike ride I began seeing “bio-waste” along side the streets in my barrio.  Today, I stopped and decided to capture images of some of it as it begins to be scattered about by careless people.  

The first one was the blue glove on the treaded crosswalk near a local park where children walk.  Who just takes off your contaminated blue glove, you know, the one used to keep your cute little pinkies clean and non-contaminated, the one you soiled with your sweat and flaking skin cells.  The one you turned inside out and threw on the ground where we must walk because you are too damn lazy to throw it in the garbage or take it home to dispose of it properly.  And by the way, where is the other one?  Are you marking your trail, like a dog does along the way?  Oh, I know, someone else is supposed to clean up after you. 

The other image is a surgical mask caught on a bush along a sidewalk.  Just think how nasty that covering is.  Your wet, smelly, stinky breath has been sucked in and out of that cloth with each lungful of air you’re trying to exchange.  You’ve touched it to adjust it to your grimy face:  Who knows where that hand has been!  (Ok, maybe you used the blue glove you threw on the ground.)  It is as nasty as your contaminated cloth bags you have been using to lug your groceries in and out of the store because you are saving the planet.   Your contaminated mask doesn’t need to be hung up on a bush… it needs to be in the trash.  It is BIO-WASTE!

 

Ranunculus

Have we yet met the new guidelines now that they’ve been said,
The cold COVID virus about us has made a lot of people dead,
And the rest of us are all cooped up afraid of something said.

But Ranunculus flowers don’t seem to worry,
The flower fields are multi-colored, bright and red,
No one comes to see us now due to COVID hex instead.

The sunset floods us with the ending warmth,
And we don’t complain as we're tossed to and fro,
Because tomorrow on the other side
The sun will rise once more.

Parkers

Who’s occupying those vehicles parked in a fan-shape in the cul-de-sac overlooking a famous, local beach?  The spattering of vehicles made up of campers, pickups and sedans, occupy the spaces with windows darkened not unlike the approaching night.  Several of the vehicles are backed into their spaces, the tailgate lowered on a pickup truck giving an unobstructed view.  Are they there to watch the sunset?  Are they there because they have no place to go… until they must move along, since the sign says: “No Parking after 1 AM?”  

Are some of them part of the safe parking program which allows homeless who live in their vehicles a no hassle place to stay, the last step before the streets?  The camper looks familiar:  it’s been parked there before, now that the beach parking lot has yellow tape across its entrance!  (But you can park on the street: go figure.)

It’s not quite a lover’s lane or make-out point!  There is no solitude at the end of the street as cars jockey for an empty space when one leaves; some couples might be hoping no one looks in!   They can close their eyes and dream that they are in a special place instead of being part of poor city planning.

 But it is all quiet: no motors running, no jam box booming, and no creepers creeping.  Everyone stays in their vehicle, social distancing, I guess.   Are they watching?  Look, look, the sky is constantly changing its hue, from royal purple to midnight blue, with a racing stripe of reddish orange painted between the wet horizon and the closing sky. Are they noticing?   

Do you ever get tired a seeing the setting sun?  Did you see your sunset go down beyond the mountain?  Or through a forest? Or maybe over a farmer’s field.  Or behind a cold high rise in an urban jungle? That same sun I see is the one you see:  I see mine over a distant horizon, at the end of the ocean, sometimes culminating in a green wink!  It signals the end of the day which passes on time and gives me a since of gratitude for what’s happening in front of me. 

And then it happens:  Brake lights!  A second ago there was darkness; now the colors that match the sky illuminate the area.  From brake lights!  Is the car rolling forward?  Was it a mistake to hit the brakes?  Is the car readying to leave?  Who knows…?  (I didn’t stay around to find out because I didn’t want to get a ticket for watching the sun set!)  

   

Pandemic Panic

Going Stir Crazy:  It’s not a political thing.  We are all into this together because the rules and regulations concerning the Corona virus are having an affect on all of us.  The schools are closed (Spring Break isn’t, apparently!), tele-schooling is the new thing (except for those who have been taking on-line classes for years), as well as teleworking, teleconferencing, telemedicine, telemarketing (can you say SPAM calls), and teleworshipping (I think we can discount Jim Baker and Tami Faye back in the day!).     

Two weeks ago, the DOW was over 29,000: today in the 19,000s!  Covid-panic'd stock market!  People sell low and buy high… isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?  I just peeked at my 401k, a, b, c… whatever; oh, it is a “paper loss!”they say.  Thank goodness for that kind of paper; at least no one is hoarding it!  I wish car dealers would sell their new rides low and buy used ones high!  Maybe a new business model!

Handshaking is now over, and some dope wants you to whack your elbows together so your crazy bones will buzz.  Let’s see… we could use the “Namaste bow;” the Tibetan “show me your tongue;” or the one I like, the Chinese greeting (hopefully, this isn’t racist!) where you double up your right fist and put your open left palm above it, representing the “yin and yang” of life.  Just don’t wag your gun finger in an uncontrolled manner; you might get arrested for flesh violence.  

The toilet paper saga is getting old:  the other day I was behind a guy who had three 8-rolls of some brand of TP encased in a purple wrapper and a bottle of wine.  I tried to figure out if the two went together.  (Hey, I bet you wish you had the rolls of toilet paper that your kid used to TP the house of his buddy back on your shelf, that way you wouldn’t have to hoard all that tissue so your neighbor has none.  I know, you don’t care.)

Speaking of that, I needed something from Target; I hardly ever go there because if I needed to use the bathroom, I’m not sure which one is acceptable for me to use.  I hate being politically incorrect; I always get crap for that.  But I digress… So, I thought I’d go back to the cleaning products aisle and see if there were any bottom-cleaning products:  Sure enough, not a single roll left!  The shelves were bare… except for a two pack roll of “Bounty Prints:  The Quicker Picker Upper.”  PS: Stop calling 911 when you can’t find toilet paper on the shelf!  Get creative… share with a friend. 

 Yesterday evening I went to In-N-Out Burger for my 800 calories:  I added it up and it was over 850 and I hadn’t ordered a drink!  The seat police wouldn’t let me sit down; she was cute, in her Burger outfit, but the swinging dirty dish rag which she held menacing toward me made me think twice about pushing past her.  Social distancing: no seating allowed in the restaurant, but I could carry out or order from the Tacoma and hang outside. 

I just bought a six-foot leash to walk my dog; I have heard that dogs and cats can’t pass the Corona virus on to humans, which is good news.  But the length of the leash is a passive yardstick:  I’ll know how far to stay away from all the people clogging the sidewalks out walking, allegedly getting fresh air!  You know they are out walking because they are bored!  I’ve been walking my dog for ten years and the only time I’ve seen so many people out is when they are accompanying their kids, trick-or-treating at Halloween!

I went to Costco a bit ago to get a chicken salad at the food court; Mickey loves to go to Costco for bits of chicken and “love!”  Whoa… the food court is only selling hotdogs and pizza!  There was only one guy buying at the window, when normally it would be standing-room-only!  There are signs posted over the other choices saying, “Unavailable.”  Turns out it is “unavailable” because they are limiting choices to limit people!  And nowhere to sit!   The big sign at the entrance listed all the things unavailable, including toilet paper, dry dog food and Vitamin C, as a food hosts squirts an unknown chemical on the shopping cart handles.   But there she was, the chic in the white Mercedes SUV with cases and cases of water!  She had two Costco workers loading that thing to the brim… no social distancing there!  What happened to concern over plastics… or for that matter, what’s wrong with “tap water?” 

 

How many more days till the self-quarantine is over?  Eleven?   This is going to get interesting!